BURLINGTON – There’s one thing Boone County Emergency Management needs in order for the new notification system to work.

Residents’ contact information.

Residents and business owners can sign up to receive CodeRed emergency notifications and weather warnings by going to the county website, www.boonecounty.org/EM.

The emergency notification system matches published telephone numbers and computerized mapping information, allowing officials to notify residents in a specific geographic area.

But that information doesn’t account for residents with unpublished home phone numbers or homes that don’t have a landline telephone.

“This is a step forward in technology for us,” said Mark Ihrig, Boone County’s Emergency Management director. “There are two separate services. One is the emergency notifications that would come from the county office, and the other one, the weather warning system, is completely optional.”

For instance, if a tanker truck carrying hazardous materials wrecked on a county road, adjacent residents who could be affected by fumes would receive an emergency notification.

There’s no automatic call for weather notifications, including flash floods, severe thunderstorms or tornadoes. In order for residents to receive weather warning calls, they have to sign up through the community enrollment form on the website, or call the Emergency Management office at 859-334-2279.

Residents can choose if they want to receive text, email or phone call notifications. They also can register more than one phone number for each address. For instance, family members can register their phone numbers on an elderly relative’s address, or business owners can have the service contact their cellphones in addition to the office line.

“What’s important is that residents get the information they want to receive in the ways they want to receive it,” he said. “They have to register for the weather notifications, but they don’t have to get all of them. They can sign up for only tornado warnings, if that’s what they want. It’s a very customizable system.”

Ihrig said the notification system isn’t triggered by potential bad weather.

“It doesn’t activate for a watch, that’s just the possibility of a tornado. It will only notify when it’s a warning, and it will only call the ones the weather service sees in the path of the storm,” he said. “If we had gotten a tornado in the far southern end of Boone County, people who live in other areas would not have been called.

“It’s very hyper-local so no one else will be bothered,” Ihrig added.

In the future, more notifications could be added.

“We could take it a step forward and send non-emergent notifications, from public services when they’re starting road work, or local governments could send a notification for a city meeting or community event,” Ihrig said. “You would only get those notifications if you registered to receive them. We don’t want to bother anybody who doesn’t want to get a call, but we want to make sure that the people who want to be notified get those warnings.”

In March, county leaders signed a $42,900 contract with Code Red to provide the service for one year. The contract can be renewed at the same cost for up to three years.

Ihrig said the enrollment page will remain active on the website as long as the county is contracted for the service.

“People might move or change their phone number, or they might change their mind about what notifications they want to receive,” he said. “We’ll never close the enrollment page as long as we’re using the system. It’s just a matter of understanding people need to go ahead and do it now, so they’ll get the notifications when they come.”